CHILCOT: 9/11 'fundamentally changed' the approach to Iraq

The
second tower of the World Trade Center explodes into flames after
being hit by a airplane, New York September 11, 2001 with the
Brooklyn bridge in the foreground. Both towers of the complex
collapsed after being hit by hijacked planes.REUTERS/Sara
K. Schwittek

September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the US "fundamentally
changed" the US and UK's approach to Iraq, the Chilcot Report
concludes, hardening the pair's view of Saddam Hussein's regime.

The long-awaited report concludes that after the 9/11 attacks the
West abandoned its previous policy of "containment" in favour of
stamping out threatening regimes, either through diplomatic or
military efforts.

Tony Blair first floated the idea of regime change in Iraq
just three months after the September 11, 2001.

The Chilcot Report says foreign secretary Jack Straw told the
inquiry "that the attacks led to a consensus across the world
that a policy of tolerating failing or failed states was
unacceptable. The perception of risk changed."

Speaking at the launch of his long-awaited inquiry into the
Iraq War, Chilcot said Tony Blair "urged Bush not to take
hasty action" in the wake of the Al Qaeda attacks. But by
December 2001, the thinking had changed and Blair proposed a plan
to pursue regime change.

The former Labour Prime Minister "suggested a strategy for regime
change in Iraq that would build over time, including “if
necessary” taking military action without losing international
support."

This was because Blair was worried that the US would jump the gun
and attack Iraq, "which he considered would undermine the success
of the coalition which had been established for action against
international terrorism."

Chilcot says Blair chose to "emphasise the threat which Iraq
might pose, rather than a more balanced consideration of both
Iraq’s capabilities and intent."

Tony Blair "overestimated" his ability to influence the US

The conclusion is part of the damning verdict from Chilcot on
Blair's assessment of Iraq in the run-up to the war.

Chilcot says the UK's concerns about weapons of mass destruction
falling into the hands of terrorists pre-dated the 9/11 attacks.

2,996 people were killed and over 6,000 injured on September 11,
2001, when four passenger airlines were hijacked by Al-Qaeda
terrorists. Two planes crashed into the two World Trade Centre
towers in New York, one into the Pentagon, and the fourth was
heading for Washington but crashed in Pennsylvania after
passengers tried to overcome the hijackers.

The UK went to war with Iraq alongside the US in
2003. The US stated
the intent was to remove "a regime that developed and used
weapons of mass destruction, that harbored and supported
terrorists, committed outrageous human rights abuses, and defied
the just demands of the United Nations and the world."

However, the UK public strongly opposed military action and the
UN refused to sanction it. The protracted conflict that followed
the declaration of war saw 179 British military personnel killed
and thousands of Iraqis also lost their lives.

The Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq war finally published after
seven years on Wednesday. The 2.6 million word
document is the culmination of a huge investigation that was
launched by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown in 2009 into the
United Kingdom's involvement in the war in Iraq.

The report, which is estimated to have cost over £10
million of taxpayers' money, has been chaired by former senior
civil servant Sir John Chilcot.